The roof at B.C. Place stadium collapses

[TrogL]

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=448f933e-b377-43ba-9c63-2b5edd334690&k=79296

The roof at B.C. Place stadium has collapsed.

The fabric roof fell into the empty stadium shortly after noon today

Another report says nobody hurt.

[SoCalDem]

1. Thank goodness no one was inside.. n/t

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. yes.

btw, you have the bestest sink-cat photo in recent memory!

those are some happy, happy kits . . .

[hlthe2b]

7. Isn't that the truth.... Now that defines "innocence"

:loveya:

[damntexdem]

8. It was done on purpose after the tear, ...

to ensure that it would not happen while anyone was inside.

[flamingyouth]

2. Wow

I'm glad no one was hurt! How scary. :wow:

[maxsolomon]

4. nasty nasty weather in the PNW

least it was fabric, and not Kingdome roof tiles:

Roof incident
The most notorious event in the stadium's history took place on July 19, 1994, when four 26 pound waterlogged ceiling tiles collapsed in the vacant stadium just hours before a scheduled Seattle Mariners game. The cause was the stadium's poorly maintained concrete roof, which, by 1993, was leaking badly. A plan to repair the roof involved stripping the original exterior sealant and pressure washing the exterior. This pressure washing resulted in seepage through the concrete roof, ultimately leading to the interior ceiling's collapse. The Mariners were forced to play the last 15 home games of the 1994 strike-shortened season on the road. Repairing the roof ultimately cost $51 million and two construction workers lost their lives in a crane accident. The incident also motivated plans to replace the stadium.

[Rick Myers]

5. That happened once at the Metrodome. The fabric tore...

We were at a hotel where the umpires stayed, and they showed up after the baseball game drunk and ranting about the roof collapsing! No one was hurt, but it made big news!

[daleo]

6. Vancouver has had some seriously bad weather lately

Unusual amounts of snow, incredible windstorms (knocked down huge trees in Stanley Park), enough rain to cause a boil water advisory...global warming? Is this the sort of thing we can expect to hear more and more of?

[Lisa]

10. more intense rainfall during winter storms is consistent with global warming models

A few years ago, the Ministry of Environment released an impact study (it's on their homepage)
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/air/climate/index.html

I have to admit that I was focusing on growing-season precip/evap and figured that a bit more rainfall in the winter would likely pass unnoticed, except for a few more floods in poorly-drained areas. (Hey, I've been studying forest fires, so I was blind-sided by this!)

At the time, I discounted the stuff about erosion and infrastructure damage. Looks like they were on the right track, though.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. Back in 86...

I was working for Bob Seger and we played BC Place. As usual, we flew the lights from the roof trusses. Before and during the show, a massive windstorm kicked up and the lighting rig was traveling in and out over a range that was, at times, 10 feet.

I don't believe I have ever been so scared. I really thought the lights were gonna hit the deck.

Lovely facility, BC Place, in one of my favorite cities. That said, that roof was dodgy.